Hired to Kill
by AdamineTerra
Summary: When assassins in the kingdom of Lancet keep finding dead mages on the streets, it's up to King Isaac's Royal Guard to make sure the Grand Magic Games can still be held in the kingdom. Isaac's assassin Katja is sent to guard the guild Sabertooth while hunting down whoever is murdering mages. Can she trust the shadow that stalks her when she goes on the hunt for the murderers?
1. Grand Magic Games

**Hello, all of my fabulous, beautiful, and sassy readers! It is I, AdamineTerra! I shall be the one to take you on a journey to the kingdom of Lancet in the world of Fiore.**

**Since this is Book Four in my Mages of Lancet Series, I hope you're keeping up.**

**Prepare to enter a kingdom in which equal rights aren't so equal and the demons that lurk in the shadows are more allies than the angels that fly in the sky. All of my events are based off of real life events. I took pieces from history such as the Berlin Wall for my Wall of Lancet and the Underground Railroad for my Magic Railroad.**

**If you like a story that is somewhat based in fact, then you've found your writer.**

**I hope that you all enjoy Book Four, Hired to Kill. It's my love story of an untouchable assassin and a shadow who just can't stop reaching out to her.**

**"The only thing that comes to people that love me is pain-" Katja Saab**

**"Just because you can't trust anyone doesn't mean that you shouldn't let someone change that way of thinking-" Rogue Cheney**

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><p>Grand Magic Games<p>

In the night she stalked. In the light she served. As the top assassin in King Isaac's Royal Guard, it was Katja Saab's duty to keep the kingdom safe. With her face covered except for her brilliant, hazel eyes, she lurked atop the rooftops of the kingdom's capital. Her body was nothing but a shadow as she hunted in her assassin's clothing.

Her entire body was sheathed. Her black gauntlets glistened against the starry night sky. Her leather encased legs moved seamlessly. Even in her heeled boots, Katja was a silent stalker.

The night had been so calm. King Isaac slept peacefully in his rooms. The gatekeeper, that douche bag, was positioned somewhere, thankfully, far away from her. The king's regent, Hollis, was asleep instead of enjoying the night with her. Felix, the sword of the kingdom, was probably sharpening his massive zweihӓnder somewhere in the darkness of his bedroom. The only person Katja could enjoy this cloudless night with was her usual comrade in arms, and that was her brother, Sven.

The two of them were inseparable. Ever since their mother was killed by a Norman, or normal human, the brother and sister duo had become closer than ever. At early ages they had been bought and sold to a Norman that went by the name of Gatlin, a noble bastard who was now in King's Isaac's dungeon. Before their mother had died, she had fed them small doses of poison every day. With each day their tolerances would increase until one day their bodies themselves became poisonous to the touch. It had been their mother's precaution so that Gatlin could never physically touch them, but on the day that she'd been murdered for an attempt on Gatlin's life, she died without ever revealing a cure to their poisonous bodies. Only the two of them could ever touch each other's skin without being subject to poisoning. Thus, the only people they ever turned to was each other.

At least, that used to be the case. When Lancet was liberated by a mighty battle between Lancet's Norman army and the King's allied forces of Fiore guilds and Lancet guilds, Katja and her brother had wound up becoming a part of King Isaac's Royal Guard. Now, Katja's small world had opened up to her comrades in the guard and the kind king himself.

No longer was she a slave bound to her master's word. Katja was a free woman, a free assassin, with contracts given to her by the most powerful man in Lancet. Life wasn't all rainbows and butterflies, but it was a hell of a lot better than it used to be when her only defense against her master's hand was her poisonous body.

Katja back flipped off of someone's roof and landed perfectly atop another person's chimney. Even with her high heels, she didn't make a single sound. Katja was the master of sexy footwear and silent assassinations. Of course, she didn't make sound.

With a self-satisfied grin, Katja cartwheeled off of the chimney then landed on the city streets. Her black trench coat, inspired by the king's favorite choice in attire, fluttered down to hit the backs of her knees, and Katja continued to patrol the capital.

The night was about to be deemed boring until a blood curdling scream ripped through Katja's sensitive hearing. Like a bullet Katja charged in the direction of the horrific screech. Instead of going around buildings in the square, Katja ran up the side of one then charged across rooftops. Leaping over an onion dome, Katja sucked air at the sight spread out before her.

Blood soaked the cobblestone streets. Two bodies were laid out in the city's central fountain. Their blood contaminated the once sparkling, pure water, and Katja felt her feet falter for the first time all night.

She stutter-stepped and nearly tumbled off the roof to her doom. She would have had her younger brother not been there to catch her on the way down. Her younger brother sat her on her feet, but he didn't say a word. If anything, Sven's calculating gaze had settled on the humans in the fountain and hadn't moved.

His gloved hand clenched and unclenched at his sides, but a civilian was the one who spoke the words in his head. A woman whimpered, "W-When will it end?"

When indeed. The kingdom of Lancet may have been freed from Norman tyranny, but that didn't mean that the normal humans treated mages any better. If anything, this fight for equality was making the murders worse. The suppressed mages of Lancet seemed to be coming up quicker and quicker the longer that Isaac, a mage king, sat on the throne.

With feminine steps, Katja walked towards the bodies floating in the fountain. Nordic gods were portrayed in the fountain. Thor had a mage's body draped over his stone arm, and Lady Sif cradled a mage in her embrace. Not only were these kills fresh, they were placed. Katja could tell not only by their arrangement but by the amount of blood that trailed on the streets. Whoever had killed this couple had made sure that their deaths were… bloody.

As an assassin, Katja knew death well. It was her trade, but no longer was Katja permitted to kill without explicit orders from the king. The many murders she'd committed herself flashed in her mind, but she put them in her Time Out Box.

Turning to her equally well versed in murder brother, Katja asked, "Normans?"

"Gotta be. These are Grimm guild marks." He reached over with his gloved hands and pulled out one of the arms on the deceased. Sure enough, Grimm's mark was tattooed across the flesh. It was in a hidden spot, so the member wasn't the master. Still, it didn't make the situation any better. Grimm would want answers. It was Katja and Sven's job to find those answers, but this was the fifth murder they'd seen this month. Neither sibling had found a single culprit.

"Should we wake the king?" she asked to her ever wise brother.

Sven narrowed his hazel eyes. Even though he was younger than her, Sven was much wiser, smarter. His calculating eyes had never stopped looking so haunted ever since he and Kat had been forced to watch as their mother was tortured before their very eyes. That day had turned Sven into the most perceptive mage Kat had ever known, but it hadn't done anything like that to Kat. The only thing it had done was led her to create a mental Time Out Box where she stored all kinds of horrible memories. This murder was going to go right into that box after they cleaned up the bodies.

After a moment of silence, Sven inclined his head. "I'll wake him. Check around for any witnesses. I'm sure the Magician's Alliance will want to have a hey-day with this one," he grumbled out.

Katja knew what he was feeling. The Magician's Alliance was something like a mage police force. They had their detectives and their cops, but what they didn't have was a sense of true justice. Most of the mages that applied to be a part of the alliance were a bunch of trigger happy mages. They just wanted a title that allowed them to accuse Normans of everything that was wrong in the world. Sven and Kat were essentially over them with their whole Assassin Title, but it didn't make the job any easier. Every time Kat had to interact with one of them, they accused her of being a Norman Sympathizer. Thus, Katja had to have Sven restrain her from using her Poison Body Magic to deliver something deadly inside some cocky sonofabitch.

Checking her poison tipped gauntlets like how some prissy woman would check her nails, Katja looked around the city square. The woman that had screamed Bloody Murder at the sight of the bodies was quivering in both fear and rage. Since that looked like the right place to start, Kat sauntered over to the woman, a mage woman.

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><p>Isaac drummed his nails against the arm of his throne. Well, nails probably wouldn't be the right term. When Isaac was pissed off, his nails turned black and lengthened into impressive talons. Since Isaac was pissed off at the moment, his talons were playing Beethoven's Fifth against his golden throne.<p>

It didn't deter Sven one bit. He was accustomed to his king's temper. He may not understand the man's seemingly bottomless amount of compassion for the fellow man, but he was accustomed to the fact that senseless murder in Isaac's kingdom equaled one angry king. And, Isaac Grigori angry was not something you wanted to reckon with.

"This couldn't have happened at a worse time," Isaac finally bit out. The man was still in his sleep clothes. How a male managed to look enraged when sitting on a golden throne and wearing nothing but some pinstriped boxers and an eye patch was beyond Sven, but Great King Isaac managed to keep up his image.

"Yes, my King. I know, but-"

Isaac held up his hand to stop Sven. "Stop. Just stop it with the whole 'My King' bullshit. You know how that pisses me off. I've broken everyone of it but you."

After readjusting what he was about to say, Sven restarted, "Yes, Isaac. I understand that this is a bad time, but something more has to be done about these murders. The Alliance is trigger happy and just wants a reason to kill Normans, and I suspect that this operation is much larger than a serial killer."

Reclining in his throne, Isaac pinched the bridge of his nose. "And right when I was going to get to see Kagura again. I mean, really, does the world hate me?" After letting loose an aggravated breath, Isaac added, "The Grand Magic Games held in Crocus each year has decided to include Lancet mages. Toma and I decided to hold it here in capital Lance. I was hoping that you and the rest of the guard could partake along with some other guilds from the kingdom, but with these murders it doesn't look like we're going to be able to hold the games."

Under his breath, Isaac muttered, "And, I promised Kagura I'd have it set up before she got here. She's going to dissect me. Haven't seen her in weeks. Can you even dissect someone with a sword sheath?"

Sven's eyes narrowed. He'd heard of Fiore's expansion this year. Katja had been extremely excited about it. She'd been planning on participating even if it was just to sit in the stands. It would be the first public affair that she'd ever gotten to go to, and it would be the first time that she'd gotten to go to a ceremony without having to kill someone for a contract.

He wracked his brain for all kinds of excuses to permit the games to stay in Lance. He had never seen his sister smile in years, and just recently she'd been able to. The Time Out Box of horrible memories in her head wasn't overflowing with new disasters. As a little brother it was not only Sven's job to make sure he bugged the hell out of his big sister, but he also had to make sure that she stayed happy. Then, a light bulb went off in his head.

"My K-Isaac, I have noticed something familiar with each murder," Sven finally realized.

When Isaac simply arched one of his dark brows, Sven continued, "Each murder victim has been a mage set to go to the Grand Magic Games. I assume it has something to do with the fact that mages were formerly never allowed to participate in grand events. A Norman probably sees this as another chance for them to be deemed as more than just slaves."

The dark lengths that were Isaac's talons faded to white as his ire was soothed. Sven watched them recede back to normal, square nails. Leaning forward in his throne, Isaac asked, "And, this is information Colin has given to you?"

Sven nodded. "Yes, my… Eh… Isaac. He only vaguely mentioned it. He didn't seem to be too concerned with the connection, but with these two new deaths being deemed the same, I am positive that's the case. Perhaps, we could offer our protective services to the guilds. We would travel with them and stay in the same hotel as them. Once they were settled in bed each night, we could patrol the city for assassins."

As Isaac pondered the suggestion, Sven felt his hands forming into hopeful fists. _Come on, Isaac. Take the bait,_ he thought.

"That'd be better than us just smacking skulls each time we found a body. It would give the guilds some relief, too. Alright, Sven, I'll get the news out. We'll hold a meeting with the Alliance and let them know. The masters of Kindred Spirit have recently gotten involved. I appointed Spyro over the Alliance when he showed interest." Isaac rose from his throne, he was just about to dismiss Sven when one of his Shadows connected to the one Isaac's body laid across the throne room. The shadow absorbed in Isaac's body, instantly giving the man a message.

By the look on Isaac's face, the message wasn't a good one. His entire visage, one that had been calming, shot back to his previous look of thick tension. Isaac's eyes narrowed, and his single, visible eye glistened.

He shot Sven a look. "Colin just got a message from Fiore. Normans are attempting to shut down all ports to stop the incoming mages."

Leaping from his stance, Sven snatched his gear up from the ground. "Want the guard to assemble?" he asked.

"Colin said he has the matter under control for now. He already alerted Felix, and he's on his way. Before you go, grab your sister. We have to stop this foolish uprising if we want to keep the games on the table. After I alert King Toma of our situation, he may decide to cancel the games anyway."

With that possible threat hanging in the air, Sven ignored the grand wooden door behind him. His body charged directly passed his king, and the assassin leaped from the castle's fourth floor. As the air whipped his sandy blonde hair heavenwards, Sven whispered, "I will make sure you're safe, Katja."

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><p><strong>For those of you who are still interested in reading on, do not fear! I'll have chapter two up in just a bit. Also, Book Five of my Mages of Lancet Series will be coming out tonight. The name of that one is Spirits. It's about Bickslow's little sister and a certain whiskey drinker we all know and love. :D<strong>


	2. Welcome to Lancet

Welcome to Lancet

_One Week Later_

_Fiore_

"ROADTRIP!" Sting howled from his seat at the front of the Sabertooth guild. In front of him hats flew in the air, people raised their arms high in the sky, and cheers abounded. His grin could only widen as he took in the sight of his guild. This was how Sabertooth was supposed to be, and this was how Sting was going to make sure it stayed.

With recent news that this year's Grand Magic Games was being held in the newly mage liberated Kingdom of Lancet, Sting couldn't wait to get his guild there. His goal? Take Fairy Tail out of Fiore's number one guild spot and become the strongest guild in both Lancet and Fiore! It was going to be awesome.

Despite the ridiculously proud grin stretching across his face, Sting couldn't help but take note of something. While everyone was celebrating this new opportunity, Rogue was standing off to the side. His crimson eyes studied an image on a crimson lacrima. For him to be watching TV at a time like this? Something was up.

Hastily, Sting dashed through his guildmates. They were busy celebrating and checking their rankings to see who Sting might pick to be in Sabertooth's five person team. Even though the rules of this year's Lancet Grand Magic Games had yet to be announced, they were already assuming it was going to be very similar.

Rogue sat at a table in the guild. His eyes were narrowed in all seriousness. Absentmindedly, Rogue had his hand atop Frosch's head, and the little frog suited Exceed didn't appear to be paying much mind to the guild's celebration nor whatever Rogue was studying. Instead, the green cat was watching a butterfly that had snuck inside of the guild.

Crimson eyes looked at the information displayed by a hologram projected from a lacrima. Rogue read, "Unsolved murders in Lancet remain in the dark even with the upcoming event of the Grand Magic Games. King Isaac and King Toma still urge guilds the travel to the kingdom. Through the incorporation of fun and exciting mage related events, the two kings feel that Lancet Normans will become inclined to partake in the festivities instead of continuing hate related crimes…"

He drummed his fingernails against the wooden table. Rogue's mind was about to go musing on just what group of Normans would be trying to take out mages until Sting's hand slammed down hard on the wooden table. Fro leaped from her seat at the sudden intrusion, but Rogue's eyes just gradually strolled from the news to Sting's grinning face.

"Ready to go overseas?" Sting chimed in his cheerful manner.

Rogue let the hologram switch off from the lacrima. After pocketing the interesting bit of news, he grinned back at his master and partner. "We've got to show Fairy Tail that we aren't taking second place. Right?"

"No joke! Natsu may have won last time, but I'm not going to let it happen again!" He let his words fade out for a moment before tilting his head. "So… what were you reading?"

Rogue's brows rose. Huh. He hadn't thought Sting would bring that up. Then again, for Rogue to be studying foreign relations instead of partying with the rest of the guild right now was a little strange.

He leaned back in his seat before admitting, "I was looking into the murders going on in Lancet right now."

"The hate murders?"

"Yeah. I don't understand why both of the kings are risking our safety when there's someone going after mages right now. It doesn't make sense. If Normans hate all mages, mages from Fiore will be in danger as well. It's a risk every guild master has to think about before deciding to go to Lancet for the games." Rogue gave Sting a pointed look at the mention of the word _master_.

Sting was a great leader, but he got out of sorts sometimes with the management of the guild. For him not to be studying the hate related crimes being committed on mages right now just proved to Rogue that he had to watch his partner's back more than ever.

Even though, Sting got the hint. He drew a chair, tossed it backwards, and straddled it. With his chin resting on the back of the chair, he mentioned, "I have an idea."

Rogue just tilted his head, so Sting kept going. "The idea is that we'll go to Lancet, but since King Isaac isn't making it any secret that there've been murders, we might as well look into them. The king had Toma announce that any information or suspects found during our trip there will be considered as guild missions and rewarded properly. We could make some extra cash."

Now, Rogue was surprised. So, Sting _had_ been looking more into the murders than Rogue had originally thought. That was amazing. Sting was high-strung, but he meant well. The fact that he'd taken time to make sure the guild was safe before traveling just assured Rogue that Sting had always been the best guild master for Sabertooth.

Grinning at his partner, Rogue mentioned, "I guess that means we'd better start packing. If we hook up to a magic ship, we can get there in a day."

"Hell yeah! We'll get there before Fairy Tail does! To Hargeon!" Sting announced.

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><p><em>Lancet<em>

_Port Regale_

Katja sat perched on a rooftop. Her hazel eyes scanned around the docks then they looked towards the setting sun. According to its angle, the time had to have been around six. Her last Guild Escort mission would be tonight. Then, Sven would take over for tomorrow.

So far, Katja had escorted Mermaid Heel and Lamia Scale. She had been honestly surprised that Port Regale was getting so much action after Isaac had made the murders of Lancet mages public, but more Fiore mages agreed with getting rid of this racial inequality than most Lancet natives could understand. Katja was included amongst that group.

She lived for herself, Sven, and only recently her guard. The fact that complete foreigners could give a damn about a country they'd never even been to had Kat's jaw loosening in surprise. Fiore mages were… stupid. Either way, Kat was grateful for their stupidity. This foolish bravery was getting some Normans to convert.

When a ship appeared on the horizon, Katja's pleased grin was hidden by her mask. Here came her final group of fools to escort into Capital Lance.

Her body visibly relaxed, and she slung her legs over the side of the brick building. Like some kind of office secretary, Katja withdrew a clipboard. Her ever color changing hazel eyes glistened golden when she peered at the papers on the board. According to the flag that King Isaac addressed all guilds to place on their ships, this was the guild Sabertooth.

She checked it off with her favorite black pen. It was sleek black with a giant purple pompom that wafted around on top. After that, Katja perused information on this Sabertooth.

According to information they'd sent in, the guild master was named Sting Eucliffe. He was a user of White Dragon Slaying Magic. Whatever that meant Katja had no clue but no matter. She flipped over to a picture of him then raised her brow. Sting was blonde headed with blue eyes and a scar that cut through his eyebrow. He was surprisingly… young to be a guild master, but then again, King Isaac was only in his mid-twenties and already the king of a massive kingdom. She supposed that age really didn't matter. Kat was only eighteen herself and a master assassin.

With her leather boots moving back and forth in the air, Katja checked out Sabertooth's guild like a girl would a copy of _Sorcerer Weekly_. Her faintly purple stained lips pulled into a grin as she admired the attractive members and flipped over the not so attractive members.

It wasn't until a bell chimed the ultimate arrival of Sabertooth's ship that Katja decided to leap off the top of the building. Her body landed amongst curious onlookers of both mage and Norman descent. The Grand Magic Mages was already doing a great number for the capital's economy, and many Lancet fangirls had arrived to see each and every new guild arrival.

Market stalls had been hastily set up in hopes that said fangirls would purchase guild paraphernalia, and Katja sashayed her way up to one booth selling clothing. She checked herself out in one of the mirrors.

Turning this way and that, Katja assumed she didn't look too terribly frightening or intimidating towards the newcomers. She hadn't worn her assassin clothing. Instead, Katja had pulled out a fashionable trench coat that cut at her hips before tapering downwards. The coat had three large buckles that ran down the back and a hood that Katja removed from the top of her head. Her bountiful chocolate hair went down in massive waves to frame a feminine face. Pulling the cloth mask away from the bottom half of her face, it created a short turtle neck around her tan, slender throat. She quickly checked her winged eyeliner and light purple lipstick before deciding that she was as ready as she would ever be.

She moved militaristically by spinning on her heel then marched with a curvy sway over towards the dock. Katja even decided not to step with stealth. Her heels clicked authoritatively against the wooden dock, a sound that a master of surprise found obnoxious.

Once she stood ready for her guests, Katja checked and rechecked her gloves. King Isaac and her brother had told her to be prepared to be touched, so Katja had to make sure that no piece of skin was showing. Just one touch of her skin to someone else, and there was no telling what kind of poison they would be attacked by.

When Katja's Poison Body Magic wasn't being consciously used, her skin produced anything from putting someone to sleep to killing him or her on contact. Checking her body right now, Katja noted that her body was producing a sleep poison. She only hoped that it stayed that way.

With her third nervous gulp of the day, Katja attempted to make herself look warm and inviting.

Behind her, all kinds of _touchable_ females ooed and awed at the ship that was finally ready to allow mages to exit. A flare of hot jealousy ran up her spine, changing her poison to only her mother knew what, and Katja tried to control the urge to hiss at them like the poisonous snake she was.

She saw the way these women acted. They flung themselves at the mages they adored and admired. Their skin could be kissed and caressed, and many of them bared their skin seductively.

Katja could never wear such sexy clothing. She could never just fling herself into the arms of the man or woman she admired. If Katja ever revealed her skin, she had to flinch in fear that someone would touch her and die at the contact.

With a gulp Katja raised her chin. In her head she chanted, _Don't be jealous of the half-naked sluts. Don't be jealous of the half-naked sluts._ Her eyes zeroed in on the mages walking out from the ship, and she tried with her powerful mental might to slam all of those other women in her brain's Time Out Box. _Slam! Slam! Slam! Stay shut, you bastard!_

Shoulders back, Katja grinned shyly at the guild members entering the dock. The very first one she saw was Sting Eucliffe. His blonde hair blew in the wind, and he waved at everyone with the gusto of a champion who'd already won. He was loud. He was hyper. He was Sabertooth's guild master.

Next, Katja saw the two Exceeds of Sabertooth. The one wearing pink was named Frosch, and the other was Lector. They, too, appeared thrilled by the amounts of praise already being thrown at them. They were surprisingly cute. Katja had never seen such creatures aside from the shapeshifting Hellhound that the kingdom's princess had.

Behind them, Katja noted a dark haired mage. His hair was tied up with a band, and the rest of it fell in jagged spikes around his pale face. The eyes that he'd been gifted with were of the deepest crimson, and unlike the wild cheering that went on with the rest of his guild, this male walked with kind eyes and a gentle smile.

Katja's hand went to her clipboard before Sting and the Exceeds could catch up with her. After flipping through the pages, she caught sight of this man's visage. Ah. So, his name was Rogue Cheney, a Shadow Dragon Slayer. Interesting. Two dragon slayers in one guild. Perhaps, this guild was trying to collect them as much as Fairy Tail seemed to be doing.

Hastily, Kat slipped the clipboard into her black leather purse. As soon as she zipped the satchel up, her eyes flowed from the bag to Sting's outstretched hand. For a second there, she just stared at it. Anyone that knew her never offered his hand, and after what felt like several moments, Katja finally extended her gloved hand.

"Sting Eucliffe, master of Sabertooth!" he greeted.

Katja offered her warmest smile. "Katja Saab, King Isaac's personal assassin and leader of the Magician's Alliance. Welcome to the Kingdom of Lancet."


	3. Poison Princess

**Aighty. Frosch is going to be deemed female in this story. Mostly because I don't like the idea of calling anything an it. I know that his/her gender is never explained, but judging by personality, eyes, and the fact that she wears pants, I'll say Frosch is a chick.**

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><p>Poison Princess<p>

Rogue was cautious even as he took in the sights of Port Regale. Anywhere mages could become target practice. Even with this many people concentrated in one space, no one was safe. If the Normans wanted to create a spectacle of their hate crimes, this would be the perfect time to do it.

Sabertooth was one of the bigger guilds on the scale of power and popularity. Whether Sting knew it or not, the target on their backs was neon and flashing.

He looked around the top of buildings. Crimson eyes checked in at every corner and shrouded alleyway. So far, nothing. All he took in were massive, brick and stone buildings. Even though it was only the outer rim of fall, snow looked ready to tumble down at any moment in this place. The entire place may have looked dreary and grey, but with the obvious festivities playing along the port and the people cheering in the streets, that cold façade was livened.

It wasn't until Frosch introduced herself that Rogue stopped creeping his eyes along the perimeter. A stunning woman was leaned down to put her hands on her knees. Her turtleneck allowed Rogue a view down her shirt, and at the apex of her collarbone she wore a guild mark. The mark was the mark of Exile, the king's royal guard.

Exile's mark was a round shield with Isaac's symbol in the center, a raven in flight. The wings spread out from the shield, and its beak was pointed upwards directly at the woman's throat. Well, she was their escort to the inn, but Rogue still didn't know her name.

The woman's feminine voice purred in the air. She asked, "And, what's your name?"

The green Exceed flashed an endearing smile, a smile that brought the same movement to Rogue's lips. "Frosch!" the Exceed cried out.

"That's a lovely name," the woman's sultry voice purred. A gloved hand extended, and the Exceed eagerly shook it. After that introduction was over, the Sabertooth escort rose to her full height. She was tall, though not nearly as tall as Rogue. The top of her skull was eye level to Rogue, but that alone made her taller than a few of the women in the guild.

Taking a curious look at Rogue, she addressed, "You must be Rogue Cheney. Pleasure to meet you." For a moment, she didn't seem like she was going to extend her hand in greeting. Then, she seemed to come out of a trance to do just that.

He took her slender hand in his. "I am. And, you are?"

"Katja Saab, Isaac's personal assassin and leader of the Magician's Alliance, a police force in Lancet," she explained. Once more, she took a second before adding anything to that. Was she nervous?

"So, I'm assuming that Sabertooth's trip here went smooth and without issue?"

"Of course, it did. Even if it didn't Sabertooth could have handled anything that tried to stop us from getting here," Orga called out from the background. His heavy footfalls sounded on the dock, and within a few seconds, he was joining in on the meet-and-greet.

"Exactly. We know about the hate crimes in Lancet. Had anyone come to stop us from our arrival, we would have easily taken them out," Rufus mentioned. He got down on one knee in the presence of Katja. Even though her eyes flashed wide when Rufus boldly snatched her hand up to kiss it, Rufus didn't let it deter him. His lips lingered on Katja's gloved hand when he chimed, "My name's Rufus Lore. It appears that a siren is here to lead us through this snowy country?"

Instead of falling for the man's charms, Katja just looked disturbed. Shyly, she withdrew her hand from his grasp. She looked like she was trying to hide herself when she mentioned, "I'm no siren, but I am your escort. You'll be staying in a cabin instead of an inn. King Isaac believed that letting you stay near the ski resort might deter any Normans from coming for you. They believe you'll be staying closer to Thor's Field, the arena." Her entire visage lit up, and she cast the group an almost devilish grin. "I hope you boys don't mind snowboarding."

"Snowboarding?" Yukino wondered. She appeared at Sting's side.

Katja took one look at the woman, checked her up and down. After making what looked to be some sort of sign of approval, Katja reinstated, "Yup. Snowboarding. Capital Lance is not only our governmental head. It's also a hot commodity amongst skiers and snowboarders." Her thumb jabbed near her chest. "Currently, I take the top spot as best snowboarder in the country. Does the name Winter Viper chime any bells?" Sting, Rogue, and Orga knew that name. Brows rose when they took in Katja one more time.

On lacrima TV no one knew the identity of the famous Lancet snowboarder. She never took off her goggles. Her hair was pulled back into a floppy toboggan then further sealed off under a black helmet. To know that this was what hid behind all those layers had Rogue gathering new respect for the woman who beat the slopes according to her presence.

She didn't let them revel in her fame for too long. She did a quick headcount of the members of Sabertooth. With the way her hazel eyes moved, the math she was doing in her head went faster than the movements on the second hand of a watch. "Alright, we'll be taking a cable car up to the top of that mountain." Her hands pointed like a tour guide would do. Before Sting and Rogue could go green in the face, she added, "Also, for any dragon slayers, Fairy Tail has provided us with Troia infused medicine."

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Fairy Tail? What do you mean Fairy Tail? Did they beat us here?" Sting howled, leaping in front of Katja.

The woman's body arched back, and her eyes grew wide. "Uh… No. There's this thing called _exporting_. The medicine was exported from Hargeon. A whole shipment of the medicine got here before any dragon slayers did, and Fairy Tail isn't set to arrive until tomorrow. They're under my brother's contract." A slick grin crept up her face. "If it makes you feel any better, Sabertooth will be bunking in the same lodge as Fairy Tail."

The look of sheer joy that crossed Sting's face was enough to get the whole team beaming. Rogue knew exactly what was on the male's mind, too. He was going to see if Natsu would spar with him. Hmm. Perhaps, Rogue could do the same with Gajeel. It would be worth it to show his role model that he was stronger than he had been last year.

Katja broke into Rogue's daydreaming when she pressed her gloved hands together. "Okay, now that we're all present and accounted for, I would love for everyone to fight the throngs of fangirls to get to the carriages King Isaac provided us with."

Her hands gestured over to a line of proud horse drawn carriages. Two shiny, black steeds huffed in the chilly air. One could see the frost as it poured from the horse's nostrils. Their proud bodies stood in the evening sunlight, and the whole day took on a certain flair to it. Apparently, the guilds were to be treated like celebrities.

Sting wrapped an arm around Katja's shoulders. He was going to draw her into a half hug and say something probably goofy until Katja's eyes shot wide. Sting's hand slipped underneath the thick veil of Katja's hair. Rogue could see her tan, bare skin for just a second. Then, something horrific happened.

With just the slightest of touches to Katja's skin, Sting's words came out in a jumbled bunch from his lips. Katja loosed a shriek then ripped from Sting's grip. Her hands gripped Sting's arm then threw it off of her. Like she had been the only thing supporting his body, Sting toppled to the streets.

Immediately, screeches sounded off in the air as fangirls flipped at Sting hitting the cobblestone. His body was a limp noodle, and he melted into a puddle on the ground. He was even foaming at the mouth.

"What the hell just happened?" Orga boomed. Electricity fired up around his body as he searched for anything that could have gotten Sting to drop so easily.

Yukino lunged for Sting. She was about to touch him, but Katja's hands shot out. Covering Sting with her body, she breathlessly explained, "Oh, my, goddess! I'm so, so, so sorry, but you can't touch him. I'm poisonous. My skin is poisonous. When he touched me—oh, goddess. Sven! Sven, I need you here now!"

Katja's gloved hands slapped Lector away from touching his master. She hissed, "What part of poisonous do you not understand? He touched me now he's poisonous!" Tears began to form in her big, hazel eyes.

"I told them I couldn't do this," she hissed with moisture brimming at just the rim of her reddening eyelids. Her fists curled against the streets. She looked like she was seconds from breaking out into waterworks.

Suddenly, a black figure appeared. Wearing a long, ebony trench coat that seemed to be a going trend in Lancet, a new male showed up. "Kat," a male voice called. Hands reached out to snag Katja's face as everyone else looked on in part confusion and part horror. "Kat!" the man barked louder.

"Gunna do it again. Can't touch people. Can't let them get hurt. The only thing that comes to people that love me is pain," she whispered in a daze. Her eyes looked like they were going glassy, dazed. Rogue could almost see himself reflected in them like mirrors.

"No! Kat, don't go there. Time Out Box, Kitten. Okay, Time Out Box. Do you hear me, Kitten?" the new man kept on. His bare hands reached out to smooth over her temples. In soothing strokes he began to calm down what looked to be a panic attack.

Almost immediately, Katja eased back. The body that had been completely quaking in nerves and tear inducing fear was soothing down. "Yeah, that's it, Kat. Shh. Calm down. Shh. Now, I need you to make the exact same poison, so that my body can make an antidote for it. Do you hear me, Kitten?"

Katja gave a nod of her head. That shivering movement caused teardrops to spill onto the cobblestone. Rogue looked on in confusion, and after a while Katja was being shoved at him. "Hold my sister," the male commanded with a deep voice.

"I-uh-s-sure," Rogue spat out, carefully making sure not to touch any of the woman's skin. Most of it was covered. From just holding Katja Rogue was amazed at how in the hell Sting had wound up in the one in a million chance of touching this woman's skin. She was covered from head to toe, and her neck was covered up in a turtleneck that came to her chin. Of course, Sting was the one to fall prey to touch based magic.

His red eyes shifted down to where Frosch was holding the gloved hand of Katja. The little Exceed looked like she was trying to sooth the shivering woman. Smiling softly towards Frosch, Rogue turned his eyes back to the stranger.

"Is he going to be okay?" Yukino wondered, calmed down a little bit but still concerned. Her hands gripped the bottom of her skirt in nervousness, and she was nibbling on her lip.

The man tending to Sting briefly glanced up as if he hadn't realized anyone was around him. Sudden nervousness seemed to fill him when he noticed how many pairs of eyes were seeking his response. With an audible gulp, he explained, "Yes. Luckily, Katja was able to reproduce the same poison. Where my sister is poisonous, I'm venomous, but I can produce anti-venom to disrupt her poison. We should just be thankful this idiot touched her when she was producing paralysis poison. He could have died."

"W-What?" Yukino hissed in astonishment.

"Yeah, my sister and I constantly produce different poisons and venoms in our bodies. When someone touches her, she has no idea what she'll be giving them if she's not actively controlling her magic. For me, I would have to bite someone." He licked the hand that had touched his sister's skin. "This might get a little gross for you," he admitted, sticking a dart inside of his mouth.

Everyone raised an eyebrow until Sven withdrew a saliva coated dart from his mouth. Then, everyone suddenly got it.

"You must be joking," Rufus whispered to himself. "I can't un-remember this."

"No joke, musketeer. Just science." The man shoved the dart inside of Sting's neck. "Your guild master will be out of commission for the rest of the day, but he should be fine tomorrow morning." His head whipped around to Yukino. "You!"

"M-me?"

"Yes, you. Make sure that he drinks a lot of fluids and rests tomorrow. He'll be fine, but he now has poison _and_ venom in his body. Too much movement and my venom may change into something more potent. The less he moves around, the less it'll move in his bloodstream." He leaned down to pick Sting up. Hauling the man up then slinging him over his shoulder, hazel eyes cut aggressively towards the man on his body. "My question is how in the hell did he touch her bare skin?" This guy made it sound like Sabertooth had _let_ Sting touch her.

"We can't be held accountable for what Sting does. He's ridiculous," Orga intoned, shrugging his shoulders now that the threat was over. "Besides, why the hell did King Isaac send out someone whose skin couldn't be touched without warning us first?"

In nothing more than a blur, the stranger had his hand wrapped around Orga's throat. With a voice calm but filled with menace, the trench coat wearing male asked, "Did I mention that just a scratch of my nails into your skin could envenom you?" Orga made a snarl, but he also made it obvious that the man's threat had been understood. "Well, now you know. Make one more rude comment to my sister, and you might as well consider that as a warning." The male gave a pause then looking towards Rogue who hadn't said a single word, he added, "My name is Sven Saab. Like my sister, I'm an assassin for Master Isaac, and I'm the head of the Magician's Alliance. Would you like to trade?" He hefted a groaning Sting.

"Sure." Rogue began to move Katja, but as soon as he did, he felt her hair whisper against his skin. Nerves shot through his body.

He just stood there waiting to be poisoned, but when nothing happened, he heard Katja whisper, "I-I'm going to go away now."

Sven tossed Sting at Rogue then hastily dipped in to extend a bare hand to Katja. In an obviously weak grip, Katja rose up from the street. Her head was hung like a whipped dog. One of her gloved hands kept running up and down her arm. "I'm so sorry," she managed once more. "Oh, goddess, I'm so sorry."

When her head lifted, Rogue could see tracks of tears running from her eyes. They were the lightest of purple like someone had dipped just the tip of a purple paintbrush into clear water. As soon as Rogue got to see her eyes, Katja tore them away from everyone.

Just like a whipped dog might do, Katja walked off with her tail between her legs. Sven took one look at her before turning back to Sabertooth. "Come with us. During this trip, Katja will still be your guardian. Upset her like this again, though, and I'll make sure that King Isaac assigns me to look over your guild."

Rogue simply inclined his head. With Sting on his shoulder, they followed the brother and sister duo. With a careful gaze, Rogue watched as Sven hastily ran up to his sister. He put an arm around her shoulders the same way that Sting had been trying to do then drew her close. Sven kissed the top of his sister's head then whispered something that couldn't be heard at this distance.

There was pain in that exchange. Just by the way that they acted, Rogue could tell that this wasn't the first time this had happened to Katja or Sven.

"Talk about a dirt bag," Orga grumbled out. His brawny arms were lifted up, his fingers interweaved behind his head.

"Don't be like that, Orga. Obviously, this isn't the first time this has happened to her. Don't be so inconsiderate," Yukino scolded, walking behind Rogue. She was looking at Sting and making sure that he was healthy and safe.

"Well, it's not like Sting did it on purpose. That guy makes it look like it was all his fault. I'm just saying that we should have known we were dealing with a Poison Princess in the first place since she'd so damned dangerous," he growled. Rogue hated to admit it, but he had a point. Then again, so did Yukino. A little heads up on both accounts would have been nice. Oh, well… They were still stuck with said Poison Princess.


	4. Lodging

**Alrighty, dudes and non-dudes, sorry about that last chapter. I just truly need some help on le ole battle match ups. Fairy Tail versus Kindred Spirit is the only one that's been decided. The question is "In a game of Who Can Punch Who the Hardest" who do you want to see versus each other. So... yeah... Some assistance would be nice, my lovelies.**

**Here is the real chapter four, so you all don't flip out on me. Again, sorry about the details. That was just my Help Wanted Flyer.**

**Alrighty then, tally-ho. Enjoy this lil' tidbit of good ole Katja.**

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><p>Lodging<p>

Katja kept her head hung but her eyes peeled. She may be feeling awful about what she'd accidentally done to the master of Sabertooth, but she hadn't expected him to hug her. No one hugged her. Well, Sven did, but he didn't count because he could. No one other than Sven could touch her. That was a fact of life, and one she would have to deal with for the rest of her life.

Long ago, Katja had come to the conclusion that she would be by herself for the rest of her life. Today just reminded her of the day that fact had been made brutally clear. That boy… The one in her memory was the first person Katja had ever had to put in her Time Out Box. Katja didn't want to have to put Sting there, too.

Her eyes traveled over towards where Sting was laid out unceremoniously between Yukino and Rogue. The frothy saliva her poison had given him had been wiped off and hadn't come back. In other words, Katja could tell that her brother's anti-venom had worked.

She was thankful.

There wasn't a medicine known to man to counteract her poison other than Sven's venom, and her poison was the only thing that could cure his venom. Even so, the transfer was risky business. Too much or too little and the victim would die either way.

Over the years Kat and Sven had mastered their venom and poison curing. Now, they almost always knew how much or how little they needed to balance out the venom or poison. It was good because they could never turn off their magic, and just a slight slip in control could kill an ally. Katja thought, _Case and point are sitting right in front of you, Genius._

Mentally, she slapped the devil sitting on her left shoulder. She did not want to listen to him right now. As a matter of fact, he needed to go find another shoulder to perch on. Katja was never in the mood for him.

"Stop thinking about it," Sven's rational voice grumbled from beside her.

When she turned towards her brother, all she saw were hazel eyes turned to blue flames by the setting sun. He was worried.

"I'm not thinking about it," she lied. Katja was _so_ thinking about it.

"We're not mad about it," came a feminine voice. Katja turned in the direction of Yukino. "Sting's the best at getting himself into impossible situations. I'm sure that when he wakes up, he'll be more interested in fighting you than fearing you."

Katja forced a gentle smile to cross her lips. "Yeah…" Her eyes turned towards a studious gaze that had been checking her out the whole time.

Rogue's crimson eyes watched her like a hawk. Katja lived in shadows. She wasn't used to being exposed at all, clothing or visibility. The fact that she was being watched just unnerved her further.

Looking towards her brother, Kat asked, "Are you going to be over Mermaid Heel and Fairy Tail still?"

Sven just gave a slow shake of his head. His entire body was in protective brother mode. Even that way he was sitting made himself look bigger, more like a threat to anyone that wanted to mess with her. "The Polterom Twins are coming in to meet Fairy Tail. They offered to take our place to watch over the guilds, and K-I mean, Isaac wants to be around Kagura as much as he can. I'll be watching Lamia Scale, Quatro Cerberus, and the Band of Fallen. What's your three?"

"Sabertooth, Blue Pegasus, and Grimm. For some reason Isaac said that my Poison Body Magic would be perfect for Blue Pegasus since they always get handsy with the girls. Isaac told me to wear tank tops around them, and if they touched me, to put them to sleep." For some reason her admission got the Sabertooth guild members to snicker.

When she raised her brow, she got her answer. Yukino explained, "Blue Pegasus thinks that they're a bunch of studs and charmers. They're very well dressed and attractive guild members that make womanizing look like an art."

Just that comment got a low growl to roll in Sven's chest. "Isaac and his schemes," he grumbled.

Katja was thinking about making a comment on that until the carriage stopped. The driver walked around the side to open up the door, and her mood almost immediately brightened.

Up ahead Kat could see snowy peaks being kissed by large, fluffy flakes of ivory snow. Even at this distance, Katja could hear magic snow mobiles running. She had suspicions about what the preliminary event would be to knock guilds down to the top ten. The fact that she was hearing people working on the Icere mountain range was just turning those suspicions to fact. Kat would have to make sure that she would represent Isaac's Royal Guard if the event wound up being snowboarding. The Winter Viper had to maintain her image.

"This is where I have to leave you," Sven mentioned, breaking Kat from her plots and plans.

"Huh? W-why?"

"The Band of Fallen and Lamia Scale have just arrived. I have to get back at the dock to make sure it's safe for Lamia Scale."

"How do you know?" Katja wondered.

Her eyes shifted around, and when Sven merely pointed to one of King Isaac's shades, shadow messengers that relayed information in Lance, she immediately understood. All it took was Isaac's shades reaching out and connecting to another person's shadow to receive and give information through the capital. It was how the Royal Guard communicated.

Wind gave a harsh gust to the back of her head, sending locks into her face. She tucked a strand behind her ear then gave Sven a nervous grin. "Well, be careful then."

Sven's flat lined mouth curved up into a slow grin. He leaned close to his older sister to press a kiss on her forehead, a habit he'd formed after being around Princess Adamine for so long. "You'll do fine. If any of those guys get out of hand, just touch 'em. Easy fix."

Katja offered up her most sincere of fake grins before watching her brother turn on his heel back towards the carriage. Her rib cage constricted when she watched the driver crack the reins. As soon as the two made their way back down the snowy mountainside, Kat forced herself back.

"So, ready to board the cable car?" she wondered, forcing her voice to sound cheerful. "Oh! Rogue, keep this pill bottle on you. I'll have to take it from you when the Grand Magic Games start, but for now you can keep it."

His hand reached out to snatch the bottle, but Rogue didn't miss when her hand flinched at the contact of his bare hand to her gloved one. Something bad had happened to her long ago. Rogue wanted to know what.

He didn't get a chance to ask because Yukino asked, "So, do you have any idea what the preliminary event is going to be?" The white haired girl had just settled herself down inside of the cable car.

Rogue couldn't pop the motion sickness pill in his mouth fast enough when Katja encouraged him to step foot in what looked like death suspended over death with only a thin string of hope holding it up. Once he sat down and leaned Sting up against one of the metal walls, he tried not to show the fact that his entire was one taut guitar string ready to break with just a single touch.

Katja caught him off guard when she replied, "No, but I have a good idea." A smile, a real one this time, slipped up her face. "They've been getting the snow ready all day, so I'm sure we're going to be on Mount Glacia." Like they weren't riding a death trap, Katja rose from her seat to point to the mountain they were heading towards. "That's Mount Glacia. It's the roughest, most difficult mountain to snowboard on because of all the cliffs, rocks, and trees. I'm sure the king wouldn't put us on the hardest slopes since not all of you know how to snowboard, but if it has anything to do with Mount Glacia, you can be sure that I'll be your opponent."

Rogue admired the way that Katja's eyes glistened when she looked upon the snow kissed mountain. It was obvious that was her favorite place to be. He supposed it only made sense that they would be staying on that mountain of all places.

"Do any of you know how to snowboard?" Katja asked, sitting down beside Yukino since the girl showed an interest in snowboarding.

"I don't have a clue," Yukino intoned.

Rogue shrugged, "We live near a mountain, but I have motion sickness so…" He let her fill in the blanks.

Orga beamed with his pearly whites. "You can bet that I know how to snowboard."

Rufus smiled in the direction of Katja. "I've done it before and remember it well."

"Nice!" Katja proclaimed. "So, now I know to look out for at least two of you during the competition. Don't think that I'll go easy on you either. I'm not called the Winter Viper just because it has a nice ring to it."

Yukino leaned forward in her seat and mentioned, "I wonder if anyone from Fairy Tail knows how to snowboard. I don't see Lucy being big into winter sports. She's more an artsy writer type."

"Adamine knows, and Erza asked her to teach her," Katja explained. The Princess of Lancet and Kat had gotten close to each other after their initial confrontation, a confrontation where the princess had handed Katja her ass on a silver platter. That woman had a right hook that had made Kat's jaw sing for days. She knew never to get in Adam's way ever again.

Rogue mentioned, "Well, you can be sure that I don't plan on snowboarding if I'm not allowed these pills. This is the first time I've been able to ride on anything without getting ill."

Katja beamed, and easily she and the members of Sabertooth entered a bout of conversation. They bandied information back and forth between each other. Katja went into detail about the capital of Lance. She told the group of its many tourist attractions from the mage battles recently being held in Thor's Field to the snowboarding and skiing. The biggest distillery operation of what used to be illegal whiskey was now made legal since King Isaac enjoyed it so much. Now that Sabertooth had made it obvious they were fine with her and the abilities of her skin, she became more animated, eagerly chitchatting like any other girl. Even Orga started to lose his initial dislike of the female.

Soon enough, the cable car ride ended, and Katja was leading the group into a winter wonderland. Several octagonal cabins dotted the top of Mt. Glacia. Heavy timber created the perfect image in winter lodging, and suddenly, the backpacks being carried by everyone started to feel just a little bit heavier.

Turning back into a tour guide, Katja spun around. Her dark brown hair whipped in the snow, and choice flakes dotted her tanned skin. "This is your lodging. These five cabins have been chosen specifically for the top guilds in Fiore and the top guilds in Lancet. Like my brother and I discussed earlier, you'll be bunking with Fairy Tail." Katja snapped her fingers, and two shadowy forms of herself erupted from the snow covered ground. "King Isaac allowed me possession of some of his shades. Give them your stuff, and we can go inside. You can hand Sting over to them as well. Unlike me, they can be touched." Even though she was trying to be chipper, that last sentence came out with a twinge of hurt in her voice.

Once Rogue handed over sleeping Sting to one of the shades, he shrugged his backpack off. The shadowy figure of Katja stretched out, grabbed both the man and the backpack, melted into the ground, and slithered away without a word. Hmm. Perhaps, Rogue should see if there was a way for him to be able to do the same thing.

His crimson eyes rolled upwards from the shadows shooting off to one of the lodges then he noticed Frosch walking with Katja. The green Exceed was walking close to the woman like she knew she was upset.

"How do you like it up here, Frosch?" Katja wondered to the Exceed.

"Fro thinks it's beautiful!"

"You and me both," Katja chimed, falling into conversation with the Exceed like how Rogue did.

Smiling to himself, Rogue caught up with the two. Katja blinked at his sudden presence but didn't comment on it. If anything, she smiled at him then just went back on with her conversation with Frosch. Yeah, that Exceed could win anyone over.

When she got around the same wooden door that the shades had disappeared underneath, Katja's hands wrapped around a deer antler that had been made into a door handle. "Now, this is the best part," she explained, opening up the door.

What Rogue saw inside was absolute lavishness.

The inside of the octagon was massive. Heavy timber beams stretched the entire expanse. A crackling fireplace beckoned along one of the far walls. There was a pool table set dead center in the middle of a platform. An expansive bar was stocked with Lancet whiskey, rum, and beer. Lining the entire perimeter of the room were warm glowing lights that made the room appear even larger. All in all it was a beautiful piece of work reflecting warmth and relaxation. Again, they felt the weight of their journey growing.

"Treat it just like you would your guild hall. Since a lot of the members of the guilds couldn't come due to the long distance, we were able to fit more guilds into single spaces. I just hope that you and Fairy Tail don't start a huge fight. Their guild will be here later tonight."

To Rogue she might have just said that Gajeel was going to be here tonight. The preliminary event would be going on midday tomorrow. Perhaps, Rogue could train with Gajeel before that time. He may have won their last battle, but Rogue wasn't going to let a mistake like that happen twice. Gajeel was going to lose this time. Rogue was certain.

Katja's hands lovingly ran across the wood on the pool table. She looked like she was about to ask them something until one of King Isaac's shades appeared in front of her. Judging by the way her eyes widened at the same time the shade fused with her shadow, the message wasn't good.

She snatched her scarf up from the pool table before winding it around and around her neck. Once that two inches of exposed skin was covered up, she explained, "If you need anything, talk into the lacrima. King Isaac designated two shades to each lodge. Also, curfew is at midnight. I wish that I could have stayed here and told you more about the lodgings, but I have to go."

Katja's body was in front of the door in an instant. She laid her hand down on the knob and twisted. As soon as the door opened, the sharp elevated winds of northern Lancet kissed her skin. It reached inside of the room, blowing snow inside with its arctic breath.

With how jerky and hasty her movements were, Rogue knew something must have happened. Had another murder gone down? Was there suspicious activity? Rogue had to know. Grabbing the black jacket he'd brought to this frigid land, he explained, "I'm going to see what's going on. Yukino, could you take care of Sting?" Turning to shadow, Rogue began his secret mission in the Kingdom of Lancet.


	5. Suspicious Intruders

**Guys, I've got to explain a little bit for future reference. I'm writing this story with help from TheLooseCannon. The characters Erika, Trace, and Krage are her babies. Not mine. Check out her profile. _Trace of Fairies_ is the story where I got these OCs from. I strongly encourage that you check it out. It's a lovely piece of work.**

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><p>Suspicious Intruders<p>

The port was deathly still when a boat crept up. Men and women moved silently like assassins in the night as they set about drawing in the masts and settling the ship against the docks. Silver eyes glistened in the moonlight as Trace Corix checked the wooden platform for any lingering souls.

"And, you're sure that Fairy Tail is here?" she asked to the captain of the _Winter's Tale._ Trace spun around in the frosty air. Tufts of fluffy snowflakes settled down in her dark black-purple mane. It decorated it in an angelic fashion despite the fact that this group of pirates was sneaking in without permission.

Erika lifted a bottle of booze in the air. She cried, "Of course I'm sure! Do you really think that I wouldn't know where my favorite guild in the whole wide world is?" The captain released the helm from her sun tanned hands, hands darkened from living on the seas for so long.

The woman sashayed down from the quarter deck and towards the main. Joining Trace, she swung around to lay her forearms on the wooden railing. "Is someone nervous about seeing her boyfriend after six whole months?"

Trace scowled and jerked her head away. Even though, it didn't hide the blush steadily inching up her skin. "It's been a long time… What if… What if they forgot about me?"

Erika brushed her shoulder up against her comrade's. Her body was warm against Trace's. She could feel the body heat of the other woman trying to warm her doubts away. Bringing the bottle to her lips, Erika explained, "Love, if they forgot about you, something's mentally wrong with them. You're beautiful, you're strong, and you have Laxus Dreyar wrapped around your finger just like this." Erika extended her hand to wrap a lock of Trace's dark hair round and round on her pinky finger.

The scowl on Trace's face merely deepened. She gave Erika a droll expression before looking back towards the empty docks. It was dark. It got dark up here so high in the north. Not only was it dark and lonely up here, but it was damned cold! Trace hated the cold. Of course, Fairy Tail had to be all the way up in the highest freaking parts of the damned map when Trace was finally able to hunt them down again. Trace didn't think that the layers she was wearing were even doing anything at this point.

Yes, snow was beautiful, but only when viewed through a window as she sipped hot chocolate by a fire. A huge freaking fire.

Pulling her hair out of Erika's playful grasp, Trace added, "Do you think Adamine will be here? You said that she joined Fairy Tail."

Erika took another deep swig of booze before holding the brown bottle betwixt two slender fingers. "I'm certain. Besides, even if she isn't in the competition, she's the Princess of Lancet. It'd be wrong for her to not be here."

"Good," Trace intoned with a curl of her lips. "She and I have a score to settle."

"Oh? A score? Do tell." Erika leaned back, readying herself to settle into a session of battle worthy gossip, but one of her crew came in.

Charging up from the other side of the ship, Krage called out, "We've got company. Assassins lining the whole place up for an ambush. Guess we weren't as sneaky as we thought we were."

Erika slammed her beer bottle down on the railing and gave her long body a stretch. Her puffy pirate shirt pulled up to reveal her smooth midriff. After stretching out, Erika proclaimed, "Nothing better than a warm greeting when you sneak in Port Regale. I swear, Isaac may be on the throne, but this port hasn't gotten any more hospitable."

Trace leaned back from her perch. Right now, her mind was seething on finding Adamine. She had to get a hold of the Princess of Lancet. Where Adamine would be was where the Raijinshuu would be. Where the Raijinshuu would be. Well, that was where Laxus would be. She had to get to them.

When the first assassin dropped in, Trace let her body light up in her Impact Magic. Her arms glowed in a faint silver-blue sheen. Fighting the Magician's Alliance hadn't been on her To Do List tonight, but this group of pirates didn't have the right paperwork to get inside. So… beating people senseless it was!

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><p>Katja's body flew seamlessly in the night. It was strange to say that she was more comfortable running along rooftops and hunting down murderers, but it was the truth. Kat was more comfortable here and now than she was when she'd been playing tour guide for the Sabertooth crew.<p>

She leaped from someone's chimney before hitting feet down on the roof of a shop. She was almost at the docks, and already she could see shit going down. Magic circles lit up the night. Normans fired weapons to stop magic from harming buildings or themselves, and a pirate ship without proper registration was settled in the port like it owned the place.

Grimacing, Katja shred out of her trench coat. The beautiful covering fluttered down to reveal her assassin's clothing. Pulling her mask up to cover everything but her eyes, Katja got ready to battle. The gloves that she'd been wearing fluttered to the same spot as her trench coat, and she donned her favorite gauntlets, the ones that had reservoirs for her poison to rest within.

She felt like Superman shredding her clothes to reveal the S on her chest when she was geared up for battle. As soon as she was ready to go, her brother appeared in similar regalia beside her. "So the message got sent to both officers," Katja realized aloud.

Sven inclined his head. "Kin-Isaac wanted both of us down here when Colin reported an unregistered ship entering port. Apparently, this ship is wanted for piracy. Captain goes by the title of Phantom Erika. Even though all accounts of piracy were in other countries, we can't risk it. There's too much shit going on, and these guys might be the murderers."

"Did Isaac give out the order for kill or capture?"

"Capture. Of course. Since these guys were stupid enough to reveal that big ass ship, they're likely lower ranking goons. That is… if they're the murderers in the first place." Sven touched down on a rooftop before launching himself towards the docks. He landed on the main deck of the ship, and Katja wasn't too far behind him.

All around them, the bodies of members of the Magician's Alliance laid passed out. As Sven perused the group, he intoned, "They're either stupid or arrogant. Either way, they laid our men out easy."

"Doesn't that just suck," Katja grumbled out. She nudged one of their members with her foot to make sure he was still alive. When the male let loose an agonized groan Katja deemed him fine. So far, none of the mages were dead. That was a good sign. For the first time in her life, Katja was praying that it was pirates this time.

She continued her appraisal of the damage. The ship was perfectly fine. There wasn't a single dent in it. The wooden deck didn't even have a splinter in it. Whoever had built this ship had built it well, and whoever had purchased the ship took good care of it.

Even so, Katja continued to stroll about the main deck. Sven took up the quarter deck. The two of them were investigating for clues. Anything to figure out where the culprits of this assault had gone.

As a master assassin, Katja had been taught early to keep all senses on alert. She could never be taken off guard. It was what made her and Sven the best assassins in Lancet. They would always hold this title until someone else came along to snag it from them, and since neither one of them were able to have children thanks to their magic, death would likely be who would steal their titles away.

Using those well-honed senses, Katja looked for specific footsteps in the dew growing along the deck of the ship. She looked for moving shadows, for hints of magic. Just the slightest glow of power, and Katja would find them. She just needed to keep stalking.

Coming to a hatch in the center of the deck, Katja bent down. The enemy would have the upper hand here. Perhaps they were lurking just underneath, waiting for an ambush, or perhaps they were deep within the crew's quarters, waiting for Katja to come strolling by. It was a risk she would have to take.

Determined, Katja lifted up on the hatch. Her body braced for attack. She summoned sleeping poison to filter within the reservoir at the base of her palm. Nothing.

Blinking into the shadows, her hazel eyes peered down. All she saw was the wooden members of the shaft. She saw jointed lengths moving and bending throughout the structure. Thick ropes held the joints, cradling them like synovial fluid that comforted a human's knuckles. Supportive lengths created a wooden haven for stolen goods and a pirate's crew.

A leather high heel pressed against the ladder leading into the heart of the ship, and with a whisper of sound, Katja landed on the wooden floors. Eyes glowed above her black mask. Those hazel eyes scanned about the planks laid lengthwise to elongate the spaces in the hull of the ship. Despite her sexy footwear, Katja stalked silently.

Her purple sash was like a pendulum of poisonous death as it swayed around her hips. It was the tail of a viper, and that tail moved side to side as the viper slithered within the pirate ship.

Slanted eyes scanned the area, and gauntlet tipped fingers drug claw marks into the beams holding the ship steady in the water. Her claw marks were like an animal making placeholders for itself. If the culprits had gotten away, Katja was going to make sure that they saw her marks. She was going to make sure that they knew of her presence. This was the territory of the infamous Poisoneva, a name that had haunted the kingdom of Lancet back when she was but a slave owned by the bastard held deep within King Isaac's dungeons.

When you were marked by the bite of the viper, her poisons coursed through your body. They flowed within you, never letting you go. That was what those claw marks were meant to express. Symbolically, they read, "Hide while you can, but the viper has you in her sights."

After perusing through the deepest parts of the pirate ship's hull, Katja was forced to come to a conclusion. Whoever had been here was gone. Even though she came to that conclusion, Katja couldn't help but feel like she was being watched.

Her black gauntlets dug deep into the wood when a shadow slithered about the floor of the ship. Katja was the stalker. She did not get stalked. Despite the annoyance at being followed, Katja couldn't stop the sense of fear inching up her spine. Katja was a silent huntress, a shadowy assassin. She was not stalked.

Or… that was what she used to think.

Shadows moved where they shouldn't, and Katja tried to stomp down on an inkling of insecurity that crept up her covered skin. Her Time Out Box was opening, something it always did when she felt just the slightest bit of self-doubt.

The shadow moved, and the Time Out Box opened a little more. Her heart pulsed hot. It pumped blood thick through her body. Irrational thoughts filled her mind.

Was it the ghost of that boy come back to haunt her?

Had the dead, the innocent dead, that she'd been forced to kill during her training come to take her?

Was this darkness the souls of her innocent victims coming up to drag her down to hell?

Katja gulped. Mentally, her hands flew to the Time Out Box in her head, a box gilded in sorrow, indecision, and regrettable deaths caused by her own hands. Flashes of the past came to her. Those days where she had been stripped by gloved hands and forced to touch her bare skin against the body of another. With just a single touch, a single accidental brush of skin, Katja had killed so many. Then… Then she had been encouraged to kill. She was taught to kill. The pit. The pit. Always the pit. The pit and the cell she'd lived in.

Oxygen seemed to be pulled from her lips when the shadow came closer. She felt like death was approaching. As the shadow came closer and closer, the Time Out Box opened wider and wider. Her chest heaved. Fanatic dots scurried about her vision. No. No. No. She was not being watched. Those people didn't die. She was in denial!

King Isaac had forgiven her for her sins. She was happy now. Katja wanted to be happy! She wanted to be…

That dark hand snatched her up, and she tumbled to the floor. Landing on her hip, Katja stared at the shadow growing before her. This was it. This was her nightmare, the dream she always had. The only one that stalked her was death and regret and sin.

Sven's name was right on the tip of her tongue. She wanted to call out for him as the shadow grew larger. Katja was just about to scream when the shape changed entirely.

"Katja," Rogue's voice hissed in the darkness. He grabbed onto the woman's hand. It was strange. One moment Katja had been stalking like the perfect predator, and the next she was hyperventilating at the sight of his shadow body moving around in the darkness. Rogue had thought that he was careful. He hadn't thought she'd seen him, but a single screw up and Kat had completely changed.

Making sure not to touch any bared skin—which was really only around her eyes thanks to her ninja attire—Rogue pulled Katja up towards him. "Katja, are you okay? What happened to you?"

"R-Rogue?" Katja mouthed in confusion behind her mask. Then, she repeated his name. "Rogue? Rogue. Rogue!" Like a wildcat Katja leaped from Rogue's comforting hold. She grabbed him up by the dark mantle he draped around his shoulders. His feet completely lifted up from the floor of the ship when she threw him against a wall. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? It's past curfew! Mages aren't permitted to be out past twelve!"

Rogue's brows flew up at her sudden admission. Judging by the way the tan skin around her eyes was flushed, he was assuming that Katja had full on facial blood flow at the moment. "I-I… uh-um-uh…" His mouth didn't seem to want to form a cognitive thought at this sudden outburst, but when Katja pulled off a gauntlet and looked to be about to touch his face with a hand bespelled with sleeping poison, he blurted, "The kings said we could help find the mages committing the murders, and that it would be taken as a typical guild mission with pay and everything!"

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" she cried out, pulling her mask away from her lips so she could properly yell at him. "Isaac would never…"

"But he did," Sven intoned as he approached from the darkness. "It was my idea."

Katja dropped Rogue where he landed in a teetering heap on the floor. Her hips swayed back and forth. Once she got in front of her tall, younger brother, she stabbed him in the chest with a gauntlet tipped finger. "Why in the bloody hell did you do something so stupid?"

Sven merely shrugged. He may have been accustomed to his sister's violent outbursts, but Rogue wasn't. He quickly straightened up and set to rights his clothing.

"You deserve a break, Katja. Your Time Out Box can only hold in so much," he explained.

Time Out Box? What were they talking about? Rogue hadn't seen any box.

Apparently, he wasn't allowed to think much about it. With her covered hand, Katja scooped Rogue up from the floor. She manhandled him with an impressive strength towards the ladder. "There's mages out trying to kill mages for being in a mage tournament," Katja hissed to herself. "So, what does my idiot brother do? He tells our mage king to let foreign mages come to the mage tournament and hunt down these mage killing mages!" Her voice rose with every time that she said the mage word, and Rogue wasn't surprised when he was thrown, literally thrown, out of the pirate ship.

Katja's three inch stiletto heels were the most frightening thing Rogue had ever seen when they stomped hard by his face. "Get up, Rogue. You're in danger by simply being out here. We don't know where those mages went, and we don't have a single lead." Her eyes cut back to Sven like he was the reason for their leadless state.

"I want to help! It's why I came," he proclaimed, forcing his reasons for coming to Lancet to the fore. Katja and her knife tip sharp shoes may be the most frightening thing he'd ever seen, but he couldn't let them distract him from his purpose.

Those heels came threateningly closer, and he forced himself to gulp down the lump in his throat. Ah, man. She was going to behead him with those boots. She scooped Rogue up. He tried not to melt into a puddle of shivering fear, but those eyes, those boots, that sneer. Yeah, hard not to melt.

"Oh? You want to help. Well then, get this straight, shade. When I'm wearing this outfit, my name isn't Katja. It's Poisoneva. I'm the assassin that people warn their children about. Ever heard the Lancet tale that goes around Christmas. 'Kids, you'd better be good or Poisoneva will sneak into your bedrooms and eat you'? Yeah, the best thing you can do to help is stay inside where the target on your head isn't neon and flashing."

Rogue narrowed his crimson eyes. He was both intimidated and annoyed when she forced him to stand in front of her like a teacher making sure her trouble student didn't run off. He was going to open his mouth to protest, but he could practically feel the aura of ire she was putting off with that death cold stare.

Sven didn't look so impressed. He pulled himself out of the hatch and closed it like he hadn't just been perusing about in a pirate ship. "Rogue, you'll have to excuse Katja. She gets a little bitchy when someone out stalks the stalker. You scared her." He pulled his mask away from his lips to cast a fuming Katja a cavalier grin. "You two go back to the lodge. Colin is going to be coming in soon. Felix just sent me a message about him getting punched by one of the Mermaid Heel girls for being his usual pervy self, so he's going to haunt the town with me tonight."

"Fine!" Katja growled. She pulled her hood off her head to reveal waves of dark chocolate hair. It cascaded down her back arrogantly as she flipped it away from her face. "Can't believe I just got replaced by freaking Colin."

When Katja started marching off, Rogue followed suit. Even though he followed, Rogue didn't miss Sven flashing him a snarky grin. The assassin knew something that Rogue didn't. Apparently, this Winter Grand Magic Games was going to be just as interesting as the last.


	6. Challenges

Challenges

The next day Katja wasn't sure whether she felt like waking up at six in the freaking morning or not. Her body rolled over in the queen sized bed. There were two of them in this room. All of the beds were either queen or full and typically there were two beds to a room. Right now, Katja shared a room with a woman named Risley Law.

She was a happy-go-lucky type, and upon meeting the woman late last night, she'd nearly brushed skin against skin. Why everyone from Fiore felt that a kind introduction began with touching hands together was beyond her. In Lancet it was customary to greet by pressing forearms together. For close comrades you pressed foreheads together then the elder kissed the forehead of the younger. Those customs would have been fine, but no, Fiore natives went with the ole standard issue handshake.

It drove Katja crazy. Even so, she was glad that she was bunking with Risley instead of the very hyper and very happy woman named Millianna. Thanks to King Isaac the women were separated from the men. Katja had to sleep in the same room as the Mermaid Heel girls instead of staying with her brother or Hollis. Any member of the Royal Guard other than Colin would have been wonderful. That male had a perverted streak a mile wide. Thus why Millianna had popped him in his pervy mouth the other night.

As glad that Katja was to see that Colin had gotten popped for his bad personality, she wished she didn't have to stay with these girls. Two of the five wore provocative clothing that unnerved Katja, got her jealousy boiling up inside of her.

Last night she kept thinking, _Why did my mother curse me like this?_ Even though Katja knew her mother had fed her poison to keep Gatlin and Gatlin's father from touching her—raping her as they did the other slave girls—Katja couldn't stop the ire that grew the longer she was forced to realize she had to wear long sleeves and turtlenecks for the rest of her life. It totally sucked, and Katja was completely tired of it.

She wanted to feel the sun on her skin. She wanted to be able to kiss boys and go on dates. Katja wanted to buy that sexy one piece that looked like it had been made for her body and hers alone. Ever since seeing that swimsuit in a shop's window, she hadn't been able to get the article out of her mind. She had seen it with Sven, and she remembered the pity in Sven's eyes when he'd acknowledged his elder sister's longing.

Kat didn't want to be pitied. She just wanted to be normal!

Hands grabbed onto the duvet stretched across the bed, and Katja threw herself back into bed. The games were starting at ten today. She could sleep until thirty minutes before the competition.

A voice sounded off to the side of the room, and Katja recognized it as Risley. Bare feet touched the wooden floors, floors that Katja knew would be warm to the touch thanks to King Isaac's installation of a radiant floor system throughout the many lodges dotting the Icere mountain range.

When those feet padded even closer towards Katja's bed, she clutched the duvet tighter over her head. She wanted to be left alone right now. Rogue's stalking last night had made Katja's insecurities come up to the fore. She was still pissed at him, but some part of her admired the fact that he wanted to help her. She would… She should apologize to him today.

"Come on, Katja. I smell breakfast. If we don't eat now, we won't have time to eat before the competition," Risley explained.

The competition… Katja was inwardly excited about it. Just the mention of it got a shaft of adrenaline rocking from the tips of her toes to the tips of her fingers. She assumed that King Isaac would put everyone on the slopes. She hoped her assumption was correct. Though, that happiness was a direct contrast to the insecurities going through Katja's head.

Like a heaven sent angel's call, Katja remembered her mother's words of encouragement. "Katja, you may never be able to be touched, but you can always make a name for yourself. Some girls only wish to grow up and become housewives in Lancet. Since you can't do that, promise me you'll do something great."

Under the duvet Katja's lips turned into a sneer. Yeah. Yeah. Can't be touched. Do something great. If you have a weakness somewhere, make a strength somewhere else. Tch! It was annoying. Katja's mother, Malia, and her brother never allowed Katja a single second to wallow in self-loathing.

She pulled the duvet down to blink at Risley's smiling face. The cloth covered everything right up to the bridge of her nose as she stared awkwardly at the plump woman trying to get her to get out of bed.

"Good morning," Risley greeted. "So, does this mean that you're going to get up for breakfast? I know that King Isaac is actually a champion in the kitchen."

Katja's voice was low when she responded. Muffled by the duvet, she stated, "Yeah, but… could you leave the room first for me to get changed?" There was no way that Katja was chancing Risley accidentally touching her skin when Katja was changing her clothes. Even though the girls of Mermaid Heel knew about Kat's skin, that didn't always help. Accidentally bumping into someone could always turn into a life or death situation with her stupid body.

"You're so adorable. Alright, then. I'll meet you outside." Risley walked over towards the door.

As soon as she closed the elaborately carved wooden door, Katja grumbled, "Yeah, because social anxiety is real damned cute." With a sigh she pushed herself up and tossed her legs over the side of the bed.

Annoyingly enough, there was a mirror placed in her direct line of sight. It showed off Katja's honey brown skin. Her toned legs looked silky soft in the mirror before they hid beneath a pair of tiny sleep shorts.

When not hidden beneath layers, Katja had a wonderful body. She was athletically toned. Though she didn't have huge breasts like Princess Adamine and though she didn't have a six pack like the woman she admired, Katja had a nice sized chest and a perfectly smooth stomach that was starting to form similar indentations thanks to Adamine telling Kat about her workout routine. The woman was a freaking machine. She ate constantly, and when she wasn't eating she was working out. Damned amazon.

She rose from the bed and stepped out of her sleep shorts. Grabbing them by their stretchy waistband, Katja shot the shorts in the direction of the mirror. To her reflection Katja did the stupid thing she promised her brother she'd do every morning. "I'm a beautiful, independent woman who don't need no man. You got that, biatch?"

With that causing a grin to shift her mouth, Katja pulled on a pair of yoga pants then slipped into her favorite turtleneck. Since she was going to have to ditch out to the shower in a second, she decided against changing into her snow gear.

As soon as she opened the door to the bedroom, her face was caressed by the wonderful scents of King Isaac's cooking. Yeah, most kings let their servants to everything for them, but not Isaac. That man would cook and clean alongside his servants. They loved him for it. All of the Royal Guard loved him for it, and as soon as she entered the kitchen she saw the Mermaid Heel girls gaping at Felix and his generous plate of breakfast.

The six and a half foot berserker had at least five plates surrounding him. One consisted solely of meats like bratwurst, ham, and turkey. He had about five different types of omelets around him. A plate was covered in a tower of fruits and cheeses. The last plate was overflowing with breakfast vegetables. Not only did the Sword of the Kingdom, Felix Eisenberg, have a ton of food, but he had a massive mug of maple bacon coffee beer sitting in front of him.

The giant, muscular blonde tossed his blue eyes over towards Katja. He pulled the brew away from his lips to greet, "My sister, it's odd to see you up so early after a late night of work. You will eat with a true warrior, eh?" Felix grabbed a hold of a bright red apple then tossed it to Katja's hands.

Carefully, Katja adjusted her magic to emit sleep instead of death or rot. This was something she and Felix did every morning. He would throw fruit or something at her, and she would try not to rot it before she could put it in her system. Although Katja killed everything she touched, she couldn't eat rotten apples. Her mother had hand fed her until the day she'd died. Then, Sven had taken over feeding his sister. Those years had felt so… degrading.

When Felix had heard of her handicap, he had forced her to hold fruits and vegetables. At first, it had begun with the massive man throwing food at her from across the slave quarters in their former owner's castle. She would get bonked upside the head over and over again until one day she'd snapped and came after him. That day, Felix had shoved an apple into her mouth. He'd explained, "A True Warrior would not accept her handicaps so easily, my sister." Ever since then, she and Felix had been the best of friends.

Grinning shyly at the first friend she'd made out of the Royal Guard Katja took a seat between the blonde bear and her tall brother. Her teeth sunk into the apple, and as soon as she made eye contact with the king who was watching Kagura like she was the goddess of life herself, she decided it was time to begin her drill session. "So, Isaac, what's the preliminary round going to be?"

"No."

"Oh, come on. Tell me. You know I won't tell anyone else."

"No."

"But, Isaac, I have no friends. Who could I possibly tell?"

"That's a lie, and no."

Katja huffed and put her arms under her breasts. When a low rumble moved through the air, she caught sight of Felix doing his quiet laughter thing. Quickly, she elbowed him in his brawny side. The thick hide of his leather strapped armor kept him protected. For now.

"So, even though, we're your Royal Guard we don't get a hint?" Katja grumbled.

Isaac slowly shook his head, but when Kagura decided to join in on drill her man, his expression got nervous. "You wouldn't even give us a hint?" Kagura wondered, cocking up a black-purple brow.

"I-uh-No! No, damn it! Stop looking at me like that. You're a part of the teams participating. If I don't get to take part in the games, then you don't get a hint."

That got Kagura's and Katja's eyebrows to rise. As a matter of fact, everyone looked amazed to hear that little detail. From the pool table Isaac's regent, Hollis, backed off from the billiards game he was playing with Colin. The red haired man mentioned, "You're the guild master, technically. I thought that it was optional for guild masters to partake if they filled out extra paperwork."

From his dirty magazine Colin, the Gatekeeper of Lancet, lifted his smoky grey eyes. "You know that Isaac hates paperwork with the same passion as Makarov from Fairy Tail." He casually turned a page to show off some woman's sexualized body. Accursed pervert. The man's brows rose, and he turned to magazine to show off some vintage pin up shots of Princess Adamine. "Check it. Adamine did pin ups."

"My cousin did…" Isaac caught sight of the magazine, and his ebony brows flew up. "My cousin's in a _PlaySpell_ magazine. The world must be coming to an end. Damn it, Colin. Put that thing away. We have guests here."

"No way!" Colin complained. He flipped the page over to a shot of Adamine and Mirajane in the same picture. They were playing volleyball on the beach. The shot was angled in a particularly scandalous way to flaunt Adam's ass and Mira's breasts. "Damn. Why couldn't I have been assigned to Fairy Tail?"

Katja rolled her eyes, but it was Sven who did something about the man. Summoning a dart to coat in the venom produced in his saliva, the male pressed his trusty bamboo blowpipe to his lips. In one soundless shot Colin fell asleep on top of the pool table.

"Was that really necessary?" Hollis wondered, more concerned with the fact that the stripped ball he'd been aiming for was now in the complete wrong spot.

Sven shrugged. "He was being derogatory towards my princess. What good assassin doesn't serve his master even when she's not around?"

"A True Warrior," Felix chimed before taking a massive bite of omelet.

Millianna snickered from her spot on the counter. "You know what, I think I like your Guard, Zac."

"I just wonder how all the guilds will deal with these bunking situations. Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are surely trying to dissect each other right now. I hope they make it in time for the introduction at ten." Isaac hung his head then made himself a plate of food. He sat himself down only to sit up perfectly straight when one of his shades connected to his shadow. The shade was relaying a message. "Ah. Hell. Hollis, you made sure to put insurance on the cabins. Correct?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Apparently, Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are already brawling."

Eyes turned towards Katja, and she nearly jumped at the sudden onslaught of attention. "What?" she whined.

"They're your guild, Kitten," Hollis teased while leaning against his pool stick. "Go calm the boys down before they cause an avalanche."

* * *

><p>"Wa-haha! You missed!" Sting howled from his spot on the chandelier. For someone who had just recovered from being poisoned, Sting appeared to be doing all right. Behind him a fire ball flew out a window opened just in time by Mirajane.<p>

"I won't miss this time!" Natsu howled. He charged up a ball of flame. Right when he was about to shoot it towards Sting, Gray walloped the pink haired male with a fist of ice.

"Damn it, Natsu! Not inside!" Gray roared. Suddenly, he was pulled forward. Natsu went in for a punch, but Gray caught his fist before it could connect. Slamming foreheads together, the two snarled like raging bulls.

"Got a problem with me, Ice Princess?"

"You are a problem, Slanty Eyes!"

"Think you can take me, Droopy Eyes?"

"Take it outside!" roared a new voice. Makarov's body lengthened out to a partial version of his giant form. "I'm not paying for the damages if you destroy something overseas this time!"

Had Katja not met these lunatics once before, she might have been disturbed by the chaos ensuing within one of her favorite mountaintop lodges, but she had. And… Sadly enough, this was their version of normal. Katja hissed, "Yes, we're all just one big, dysfunctional family."

As soon as someone opened up the doors to the lodge, Katja had to jump over a blast of fire infused ice. Her dark chocolate brows flew up, and she landed in the snow. A ball of wrestling males came tumbling out of the front doors. Spears of light, slashes of ice, and waves of flame all sparked out from a mound of testosterone. Katja might as well have heard dog barking and cat hissing coming from that knot of hormones.

With a sigh she stepped around the brawling males and entered the lodge. Without the mess of maleness around, the rest of the lodge was rather quiet. A couple of the mages Katja had spoken to when King Isaac had gotten crowned where here. Katja had seen Lucy and Evergreen. She'd taken a particular liking to Levy. That blue haired girl was sitting with a rather punk looking guy with more piercings than the regent Hollis had tattoos. Yukino was chatting happily with Lucy, but none of those girls were who Katja was looking for. No, Katja had someone in mind. She was on the hunt for Princess Adamine.

Keeping to the shadows of the lodge so no one would see her, Katja scanned around. There was nothing she wouldn't give to have a high perch right now. With the bodies in here, Katja couldn't make Adamine out from any of the other brunettes in the lodge.

A stray ball of fire shot into the guild. Bodies flew out of the way of the blast, and Katja was already running the numbers through her head of how much coin they were going to have to pay the owners of the lodge. As her hazel eyes watched the ball fly through the air, there was only one person who didn't get out of the way.

People screamed for a girl to move, to get out of the way of the blast, but as soon as enough bodies parted for Katja to see who they were yelling at, she understood. Right before the fireball was about to slam into Adamine's body, the princess merely turned herself to diamond.

Flames crackled against her diamond hard skin, but the princess didn't move. She just leaned over to protect the manga she was drawing. As soon as the flames dissipated, Adam grabbed the papers in both hands to cry, "Saved it!"

Shaking her head, Katja mentioned, "That's our princess…"

She was already on her way to meet up with Adamine when Yukino caught hold of Katja's covered elbow. Her entire body shut down still at the sudden contact. "Katja!" Yukino greeted. "What are you doing here to early?"

Robotically, Katja turned in the direction of the happy female. Why were all the women around her happy? As a matter of fact, everyone was too happy around here. We're they all on Adderall or something?

"H-Hey, Yukino," Katja forced herself to greet. "Someone let one of the shades loose, so I had to come check on you all. Is everything okay?"

Yukino mouthed the word shade before realizing Katja was referencing the little shadow men that were plastered to the wall or floor where no one was standing. "Oh! Everything's fine. I don't know who could have sent one of the—"

"Katja!" a voice called from nowhere. Weight pressed down on Katja's body as she was suddenly slam tackled by the princess of Lancet herself. Where their skin touched, Adamine turned her body to diamond. No matter what poison was produced by Katja's body, Adam's diamond skin wouldn't contract it. She was one of the few who could touch her. Even so, Katja would never know the warmth of the woman's affections. "I called, but I wasn't sure who they'd send," Adamine explained, sitting on Katja's torso like an animal that had just made a kill.

"H-Hi, Princess Adamine," Katja mentioned, still recovering from part shock and the fact that she was being sat on. "Did you just want to meet someone?"

Adamine nodded. "Pretty much. I needed someone to relay a message back to Isaac for me, but I couldn't say anything because…" She thrust her thumb in the direction of her usual companions, Laxus, her Hellhound Black Pearl, and the Raijinshuu.

Leaning up on her elbows, Katja stated, "You're keeping secrets from the Raijinshuu? Is something wrong?"

Adam's head lifted in the direction of Yukino like she'd just acknowledged the girl's presence. Giving the white haired female a wave, Adamine matter-of-factly explained, "I'm going to propose to Bickslow during the Games!"

All the color might as well have drained from Katja's face, and Yukino might as well have fainted on the spot. The white haired girl dropped to her knees. In a hushed whisper, she asked, "You're going to do what?"

"I'm going to propose. Isn't that what I just said?" Adamine pointed to her mouth like she was double checking the words that just came out of there. Adam hopped off of Katja's torso then adjusted the other girl until they were all sitting in a huddle in one of the far corners of the lodge.

Knowing that Adam was raised in the wild with a dragon and on the run from the government for the most of her life, Katja asked the question of the century. "Do you even know what that word means, Mina?"

"Course I do! It's when two comrades of opposing genders decide that they would lay down their lives for one another. It's just a trivial ceremony about tying the metaphorical knot, but his parents have been pressuring him about it, so I thought I'd take the pressure off of him and do it myself. We've been comrades since I was thirteen, so why the hell not?" Adamine explained in her usual enthusiastic tone. Leaning in, Adamine added, "I mentioned it to Evergreen, and she got annoyed with me. Said something about how the man should be the one to propose but that Bix is too dense to do it. She also told me not to tell him. That's why I'm being so secretive about it."

Yukino looked like she was giving her scout's honor not to tell anyone, but Katja just kept shaking her head. "Does Black Pearl know about this?"

Adamine nodded. "She does. She said that it was the best idea I've come up with in a while."

"Of course she did," Kat breathed. Yes, everyone was crazy, and it was Katja's job to acknowledge it. At least, that was how she felt about the whole thing. Even so… Princess Adamine married to a commoner Seith Mage who really didn't have anything going for him… If that wasn't a fairy tale something was off.

Bringing everyone back to the reason Katja had been summoned in the first place, Adamine explained, "I need Isaac to set Bickslow up as a player of Team Kindred Spirit. His sisters are short on mages, and Makarov's cool with it. Besides, I want a chance to kick his ass and prove who wears the pants in our relationship."

Yukino nervously laughed, "Uh. Adamine, that doesn't sound like the most romantic proposal I've ever heard of."

"Romantic?" Adamine tilted her head at the word. "We're not exactly a romantic couple." She flopped her legs out in front of her to explain, "I thought the best relationships were the ones that had comradery not romance. I'd much rather know that the guy I'm with is going to fight by my side rather than take me on nice dates."

Now those were words to live by. Despite it all, Katja rose up. Her eyes scanned around for the clock in the lodge, and when she caught sight of the short hand on the nine, she explained, "Alright, Adam. I'll do it, but you'd better make sure you don't forget about winning the games. Romance or no romance. I'm still going to kick your ass and prove the Royal Guard is the best team in Thor's Field."

A dark grin crept up Adamine's face. She challenged, "I'd like to see you try."


	7. Countdown

**Alrighty, I salvaged Hired to Kill thanks to my good friends Copy and Paste. Since most of my stories have been recovered after the violent mishap that was my USB being destroyed, I should be back up and running. Praise Mavis for having back up files all over the place.**

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><p>Countdown<p>

"The Poison Princess is leaving," Orga mentioned as he pulled a mug from his lips. The man's eyes followed her carefully. After their conversation on the cable car, his initial dislike of Katja was lessened, but he would be stupid to say that he wasn't wary of the woman who kept to the shadows.

Even as Katja left the lodge, she didn't approach anyone. She carefully stepped around some people who'd passed out drunk on the floor, and she made sure that her body was close to the wall at all times. Those weren't just the actions of a cautious assassin. Those were the actions of a girl with social anxiety. When someone got too close for comfort, she reared back away from their touch like they were more poisonous than she was.

Rogue glanced up from the crimson lacrima he was trying to hack into the Lancet government's database with, and he turned to the honey skinned woman creeping out the front door. All morning Rogue had been trying to hack into the government to see just what had happened with the pirates who'd disappeared before they could be captured.

He hadn't heard a single word about them, but Rogue was positive that Katja knew. He grabbed his mantle from the bar. Tying it around his neck, he was about to make his way after the girl.

"And, our dark prince chases after the Poison Princess once more?" Rufus intoned with a cocked brow. He cast out one of those charming grins.

Red eyes rolled. "I have to figure out what she knows about those pirates that snuck into Port Regale," he explained. He shoved his feet inside of his boots. As soon as he got both feet flat on the wooden floor, he heard Sting's voice. It didn't sound like the slayer was happy either.

Hastening his pace, Rogue completely side stepped away from Gajeel, someone he typically would have greeted, and made his way towards the door Katja had snuck out of. His eyes scanned the area behind the door.

The snow had at least stopped. Those big, heavy flakes rested quietly on the ground instead of tumbling towards the earth. A nice sized trench had been dug in the snow from Sting, Gray, and Natsu's tussling, but these details weren't the ones that Rogue was concerned with. The detail he had on the brain was Sting's crossed arms as the blue eyed slayer stared down the bundled up Poison Princess.

"Yukino told me about your skin," Sting explained with a cold, unfeeling voice. The somber tone was odd for someone as upbeat as Sting. There was no way he was actually upset that Katja had poisoned him. Right?

Katja pulled her purple scarf higher up on her face. It masked the fog coming from her lips with each exhaled breath. Her hazel eyes were measuring Sting up like he was an enemy blocking her escape route. Judging by the way that Gray and Natsu stood on either side of the blonde, it looked like he was doing just that. What was that guy up to?

Boots crunched in the snow as Rogue made his way towards the four. There was no way that Rogue was going to let Sting harass Katja. He needed to get some information out of her, and the only way to do that was to get Katja's trust.

Through the purple fabric of her scarf, Katja asked, "What about my skin?"

"She told me that it was poisonous. That you took me out without even trying," Sting growled out. He took a step towards Katja. "I want to see if you can do it again."

Katja's slanted eyes rounded. She hastily took a step back when Sting bared his ungloved hand to her. "N-no! Now, get out of my way. I have to make it to Thor's Field before the rest of the Royal Guard does." She darted off to the side of Sting when he made a grab for her.

"Come on! Get back here! I'm not going to stop until I beat you," Sting complained. Hastily, he ran after Katja.

Rogue felt like he was watching a dog chase a cat when Katja leaped smoothly into an evergreen tree. Even with those three inch heels, Katja paraded about the tree limb with ease. Sting quickly leaped onto the branch she'd jumped from. Rogue could just imagine him barking when Katja turned to hiss, "This isn't a game! Stop chasing me!"

"No! I'm not going to let you beat me without even trying and have you get away with that!" Sting howled. He charged after Katja, but when she leaped into a whole other tree, she pulled back a limb for him. As soon as he made it to the other tree, he was smacked in the face with prickly needles.

Shaking off the blow, Sting went into hot pursuit. He charged right back up the tree. With half his body hanging off a limb, he barked, "Got ya!" A hand wrapped around Katja's ankle to drag her down into the snow with him.

Bark went flying as she was dropped into the white fluff. All of the snowflakes that the evergreen had been holding tumbled on top of the two, covering them in a thick, ivory blanket. There was a little bit of unseen scuffling that went on under that blanket.

Rogue could make out grunts and wails, even a little bit of hissing. When Katja broke free of her powdery shield, she was immediately tackled back to the ground by Sting. A hand went flat down on her chest, and the next thing anybody knew, the blonde slayer was groping the woman.

"I've got you now!" Sting roared in victory—completely oblivious to the fleshy bit in his grasp. He looked down with a grin of triumph until Katja achieved a feat of gymnastics.

Moving unlike anything Rogue had ever seen, a scarlet faced Katja thrust her booted leg backwards. Her knee slammed into Sting's side. The groping hand on her covered chest released, and she flipped Sting over onto his back. Hands that had once been gloved in black leather pressed cold, ebony metal against Sting's throat. Those poison wielding gauntlets had appeared clean out of thin air, and she used them to keep Sting pinioned between her muscular thighs.

"Touch my breasts again, and I'll kill you," she growled out with her beet red face. Her gauntlets glistened damp in the white powder around her. She looked every bit like a well-trained assassin. Well, if you took away the embarrassed scarlet her honey toned skin had turned.

"But it was a—" Katja cut Sting off by tightening her hold on his throat.

"You do not touch me without my permission. Do you understand me, Sting Eucliffe?"

Gray breathed, "Whoa! She brought out the last name on that one." He was shut up by the snake-like glare of Katja's color changing hazel eyes. They were golden at the moment.

Deciding that now would be the ideal time to intervene, Rogue spoke up. "Sting, is everything alright over there?" He stepped out from behind the wall he'd been watching from. Immediately, all eyes fell upon him. Of all the eyes, Katja's were the coldest.

She darted off of Sting. Using a simple form of Requip magic she rid herself of her gauntlet. Her athletic body dipped into a bow. "Master Eucliffe, I hope to see you on time to the games. Now, allow me to be on my way." Her shoulders shot back with the same false pride as her chin did, but when she stepped near Rogue, she whispered, "You followed me again." Her eyes narrowed on him, a challenge in those golden orbs.

"And, you attacked my master again," Rogue shot back. His body was already turning to follow her. Rogue had to speak with Katja, and he had to figure out whether the intruders last night had been captured. Last night had left him with so many questions.

Why did she freak out on him? Who were those intruders? Were they the murderers?

He could see a flash of her pearly whites underneath the veil of her scarf. Right as she stood shoulder to shoulder to him, Rogue extended his hand. Just that bit of contact made her whole body go a tight as an over tuned guitar string. "We need to talk about last night," he whispered in her ear.

"And, you people need to stop manhandling me." She shifted her glare in his direction, trying to scare him off.

Instead of lowering his gaze, he steadied his red eyes on hers. She burned gold. He burned crimson. Tension was nearly palpable between the two of them. Her dark caramel brows drew closer together, and for the briefest of moments Rogue could have sworn the Poison Princess had checked out his lips. Baring those viper fangs, Katja hissed, "The games start at ten. Don't be late."

Her arm jerked out of his grasp, and she stormed off the way she'd come. As Katja disappeared further and further into the wooded snow around them, Rogue could have sworn that her hiss had been more than that. Katja had just set him up with an appointment.

A smirk was on its way up to his face until Sting's hand clamped down on Rogue's shoulder. "Already picking up foreigners. Are ya?" he snickered.

Even though his eyes were steadied on the path Kat had taken, Rogue grumbled, "Just trying to figure out what happened to those pirates last night."

"That's a great question to ask, Rogue," called a voice from behind him.

Boots crunched in the snow, and when Rogue turned his head, he caught sight of King Isaac standing in the snow. The king casually strolled up to the two men. Before anyone could ask any questions, Isaac slung his arm atop Rogue's shoulders. "I'll be taking your friend if that's fine with you, Master Eucliffe," the king explained.

Sting gave a shrug. "Sure. Is this about the games?"

Isaac cast a grin that was wicked and almost malicious. "You could say that." A hand shifted Rogue's face to look dead straight into the eyes of King Isaac. Darkness enveloped his eyesight with just one command. That command was "Light Catcher".

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><p>When Katja settled herself down in the cable car, she was astounded to find King Isaac waiting for her. His tall frame was leaned up against the silver metal of the car. He was every bit the mysterious Angel and Demon Slayer that he had been trained to be as he steadied his one purple eye on Katja.<p>

Unlike his half-brother, King Isaac's eye had been stolen by a demon when he was a child. That demon had put her eye inside of the king for him to hold a fallen angel of unimaginable wrath inside of his body. It was the reason he kept that reported blue eye covered up behind his stylish masquerade mask, a mask that only covered had his face.

From his dark locks to his hidden eye to his jet black trench coat, Isaac was the darkest king to ever rule Lancet, and he was one of the few people that Katja was comfortable around. At least, she was when he didn't appear out of nowhere.

His booted feet strolled her way, and Katja checked out the silver symbol of the Royal Guard on his attire. He had the symbol on the side of his boots. "Ready for the prelims?" Isaac wondered. He put his hand on the top of her hair, the only part of her body that could be touched.

"Are you going to tell me what they are now?" She narrowed her eyes on her king and guild master. If there was something Isaac liked doing, it was tricking people. He was just as mischievous as the shadows he controlled.

The hand on her head never lifted. With Isaac's cunning grin playing with his lips, the King explained, "I sure ain't, but you're about to find out."

Katja's lips were parted on a question, but when the floor of the cable car was sucked up in a shadow, she could only glower as Isaac commanded, "Light Catcher." With that little command all of the light that gave Katja's eyes vision was sucked away from her. In seconds Isaac had rendered Katja completely blind.

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><p>Stinging cold was what had Katja opening her eyes. Her hands fisted in snow, and she had to blink down just to gather her bearings. Snow? Cold? It took Kat a second to figure it all out, and when she did, she breathed, "I'm outside."<p>

As soon as the admission left her pouty lips, she reared back to tumble on her haunches. "I'm outside!" she hissed. Her hands flew to her chest, and Katja gaped down to find that someone had changed her clothes.

Instead of wearing her civilian's clothes of a trench coat and gloves, Katja was in her assassin's attire. She was wearing a skin tight black, full body suit. On her hands were the ebony, claw tipped gauntlets she'd been given by her mother, and on her feet were knee high black boots with a much more practical heel than her stilettoes. Immediately, her hands flew to the mask that should have been covering the bottom half of her face. When she found it right where it was supposed to be, she loosed a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Checking herself out for any damage done, she realized that she was completely unharmed. So, if Isaac had been the one to send her out in the snow then that must mean this was about the games. With that in mind Katja glanced at her surroundings.

Trees, trees, and more trees. Oh, and did Katja mention trees? No? Well, guess what, there were a ton of freaking trees!

She let loose an annoyed huff of breath behind her mask. Grabbing a fistful of snow, Katja threw it without a particular destination in mind. As soon as the makeshift snowball landed, she heard male grunting.

Cocking a brow, Katja got on all fours. Someone else was here? Curiosity got the better of her, and she crawled her way towards the impact of the snowball.

As soon as her gauntlet covered hands pressed down on a lump in the powder, a familiar voice hissed, "Cold! Holy hell, that is cold!" The sneer that crossed her face at Rogue Cheney's face was hidden when he erupted from the snow.

"Cheney," Katja greeted to the red eyed male staring her down.

"Katja?" he wondered. "If this is how you meet people for appointments, then you have serious scheduling issues." The male dusted white puffs from his jet black hair, and Katja grimaced at the snow flying into her face.

"I wasn't the one who took you here. King Isaac did. The games must have begun." Katja lifted herself up. Once she stood to her full stature, she glanced around for something. Anything to help explain what was going on.

It was likely that they had been unconscious during Isaac's introduction of the preliminary event. If that was the case, Katja was totally screwed. She couldn't let anyone get ahead of her. She had to prove that the Royal Guard was fit to defend King Isaac and Lancet. If they didn't make number one, it would be the greatest embarrassment the kingdom was to know.

Rogue stood beside her, and she tried not to flinch at the contact. The fact that she flinched at people's presences was embarrassing enough. She couldn't let people know that she did it.

"You don't think that they would have started before we could get woke up. Do you?" He stepped around her, checking to see if he could find a set of instructions or anything to explain what was going on.

Katja's eyes caught sight of something flickering overhead. She grabbed Rogue by the shoulder. Pointed a claw tipped finger in the sky, she explained, "Not if that giant clock in the sky just hit ten in the morning."

As soon as her admission left her lips, Kings Isaac and Toma, in his Mato persona, appeared via massive hologram in the sky. The stark contrast between a pumpkin headed… thing… and King Isaac was enough to cause a grin to slip behind Katja's mask. "Gotta do things differently. Do you, King Isaac?"

King Isaac stood with his arms crossed against his broad chest. A dark grin was stretched against his face as he looked down upon Katja, Rogue, and whoever else was in the Glacian Forest at the moment. "Guten Morgen, citizens of Lancet and Fiore," King Isaac greeted. "It is with great pleasure that I, King Isaac Grigori von Kaiser, and the Grand Magic Games meister, Mato, announce the preliminary events of the very first Winter Grand Magic Games. It has been brought to my attention that with the mass of guilds we have that an elimination round is required, so of the 209 guilds that have entered into the games, only ten of you will survive. Unlike the last games where we introduced the Sky Labyrinth, these games are going to be different." King Isaac leaned into the hologram to flash his fangs. "Since you are all playing in the kingdom Lancet, you're going to have to work like a Lancet mage. When in Lancet, do as the Lance do. In other words, it's survival of the fittest." He leaned back from the hologram to reveal a 3D map of Mt. Glacia. "We're not going to summon a labyrinth for you, we're going to have a race in Capital Lance's natural labyrinth. All around Mt. Glacia, 209 representatives of the guilds have been sporadically placed. You will race to the top of Mt. Glacia, snowboard back down, and swim to Thor's Field while fighting the entire time. First ten guilds to get there will continue to the main events. To reduce potential deaths we only chose one representative per guild. Of course, any deaths that may happen during the games cannot be put back on the Kingdoms Lancet or Fiore." Isaac flashed his fangs one last time before gesturing towards Mato.

"As soon as the clock strikes zero, all mages are permitted to take off-kabo. Good luck to you all!" Mato raised his gloved hand to point to the giant clock in the sky. Immediately, ten seconds appeared.

Katja could feel every muscle in her body tensing. Mt. Glacia. Snowboards. Those were going to be a piece of cake. Taking down Rogue before he could get to the top of Mt. Glacia? Easy as pie. Even if he wound up making it to the top, his motion sickness would take him down on the snowboards. Oh, yeah. Kat would have this in the bag until she got to the swimming round. There was no way that King Isaac expected them to swim in below zero and frosted over water. No, the king had something up his sleeve for that one.

Getting ready to cut loose, Katja shifted her eyes in the direction of Rogue. The male was ready to go. He was staring her down with a wild ferocity. They were both thinking of taking each other out right here and now.

"Once this is over, you will tell me about the pirates in the docks. I have to know if someone was captured," Rogue explained, looking away from the clock for the briefest of moments.

Katja frowned beneath her mask. They had captured one of the pirates that night, and they had almost gotten a female pirate as well. For some reason Princess Adamine hadn't been able to bring that one in for questioning. Those pirates were still running loose. As soon as this was over, Katja was going down to question the man they had behind bars. Also, she had to keep an eye out for any mages that might get taken out during the games.

As she watched the clock count down, Katja acknowledged that there would be very little time to play during these games. Her teeth gritted as she stared down the holographic clock. Three... Two... One!


End file.
